Core Extreme Nutrition BOOST Review
Sick and tired of being gassed in between sets of your workout? Having trouble moving on from difficult plyometric work into a strength training workout and not being able to hit your numbers or feel your best? I have some good news for you; Core Extreme Nutrition’s Pre-Workout “Boost” is definitely going to help those workouts!
I was able to sample the Green Apple flavor of the product and test it with a few different workout styles to see how much it benefited me.
Green Apple Flavor:
When it arrived I was secretly hoping for the Blue Razz because I have a love/hate relationship with Green Apple. It is such a difficult flavor to actually produce properly and past experiences had left me with a bad taste in my mouth (literally)!
The smell of the product is nothing like green apple so I was a little nervous there, but I used 1 scoop in about 10oz of water. The flavor is a sweeter green apple, I would even say closer to a caramel apple than a sour apple. For those of you expecting more of a “jolly rancher” flavored apple, you may be disappointed, however the flavor is still a good one. While it is sweet, the actual “apple” flavor is a little underdeveloped. As much as I like to water my products down, I still felt like the apple flavor could have been stronger in this one. Depending how you look at it, this could be a plus or minus.
Other strong positives were no gross film left in my mouth, no grittiness, and no chemically aftertaste left behind.
A solid and well deserving 8/10.
Mixability:
Mixability was good, but not great. One thing that I do without thinking is casually swish my shaker cup around throughout the workout but I did notice that when I left it on its side for a minute or two, there were some remnants stuck to the side of the bottle when I set it upright. For me this is not a big deal but for those who may be picky about the grittiness of a product, you may have to just casually shake the product like I do. I think 12-16oz of water may may be the sweets pot for this particular product. Certainly not a deal breaker for using this pre workout.
I give this an 8/10 as well.
Formula:
This product and its label are straight forward. A 15 ingredient product with no proprietary blends, now THAT is a score and rarity in this industry. Core Extreme Nutrition discloses the full amount of everything that you are getting in 1 scoop (10.5g)
We first start out with nearly your daily recommended value of Niacin, but not enough to ever give you an itchy flush. Then, B6 and B12 along with Pantothenic Acid and a couple of electrolytes (magnesium and calcium), along with 2mg of zinc. This is something you generally see in preworkout cocktails except they generally don’t disclose the amounts; CEN does.
Peak02--Peak02 is an organic-certified combination of six Ayurvedic mushroom strains grown and harvested right here in the U.S. These mushrooms are powerful adaptogens , which allow athletes to “adapt” to and overcome physical and mental stress, giving you the extra edge you need to take your training to the next level. Increased power and endurance in only seven days! Peak02 also contains high levels of beta glucans and L-Ergothioneine, a “master” antioxidant that fights damage from oxidative stress in the body, helping athletes train longer, recover faster, and feel better throughout the process. Boost contains 2g of this ingredient and is the first pre workout to ever use it. This ingredient is gaining much interest and recognition in the sports nutrition field, and for good reason!
Citrulline Malate 1:1—this is a little bit under dosed, I’d like to see a 2:1 at least and 2g in this product but that is just me. A lot of “clinical dosing” protocols use 2g as well so I am not sure why we only see a gram here.
Next you’re getting 1g Betaine and 2g Beta Alanine. While both of these are slightly less than a “clinical dose” the inclusion of these into the product makes it more effective for sure. These two will help with your strength, power, and recovery time when taken long term.
The product also does contain choline. While some pre-workouts don’t contain this, I applaud CEN for using this in their pre-workout. Choline is crucial for Brain health, alertness, nerve function, muscle movement, and maintaining a healthy metabolism. A lot of individuals are choline deficient and do not know it so you do get an added “Boost” with this pre workout.
Next on the list we see L-Tyrosine, which combined with the choline and Caffeine Anhydrous/Dicaffeine Malate, makes for a great focus combo. The DiCaffiene Malate is Caffeine bonded with Malic Acid. This improves the uptake of caffeine into your system.
Lastly on the list we see Schizandra Berry Powder. What’s that you ask? Well, it is an adaptogen; a substance that helps the body adapt to stressful situations so we can continue working hard at a high level. For those who don’t know, ginseng is another adaptogen that is commonly used in pre-workouts and energy drinks. I like the inclusion of this into Boost because of its endurance assisting properties.
While there are a lot of different ingredients in Boost, some are slightly under dosed. This may be a red flag to some, but the effectiveness (read below) is where this product shines, and you cannot argue with results!
Workout Effectiveness:
I used this pre workout 3 different ways to test its effectiveness for various athletes.
Plyometrics/Circuits:
This is a great tool if you are someone who trains or does classes containing plyometrics and circuit workouts. I used this during a day in which I had different plyo stations, similar to a WOD that I needed to complete for time. I am not one to EVER do cardio, but I felt my cardio was much better when I took this pre workout. I did not have that heavy chest feeling, and my recovery time in between movements decreased.
Weight Training: This is where I feel the product shines the most. Energy was high through the whole workout and never slowed down, again, even after I was finished working out. While there wasn’t much of a pump aspect, I did feel that I experienced less soreness during higher rep sets. My rest time between sets also decreased and I wasn’t nearly as gassed when doing heavier squats with shorter rest periods. I did have a tunnel vision mindset that I noticed as well. I didn’t “zone out” or take my time between sets. When I felt ready, it was on to the next set. I got a solid workout in (8 exercises 38 sets) in just over an hour. My performance and efficiency also increased when using Boost. Heavy weight’s didn’t feel nearly as heavy, and were not as taxing on my body. This is a great pick up for those who are doing full body movements such as Olympic lifts.
Sport Specific Training:
The last place that I used this was during a practice/sport specific lifting. I am a former collegiate track and field athlete who competed in the shot put, discus, and hammer. I was able to test this before a practice that was followed by some lifting/plyo’s that we used to help build that sport specific strength. One thing that I noted here was that there was no jitteriness some preworkouts give. I noticed that although I was focused and had tons of energy, I never once was jittery during this practice. Now I would not recommend taking pre workout before a sporting event or practice, however I did this as a test to see how it affected my technique and so on. Lucky for me, it did not affect it negatively at all. The lifting after practice which included tire flips, hurdle hops, battle ropes, and a few other high and broad jumps went great. After a 2 hour practice I wasn’t completely beat up, I was still able to complete the lifting and plyometrics without a problem. This is amazing to think about when, at the end of the day, my workout was nearly 4 hours. CEN Boost seems to be an endurance athlete’s DREAM!
Core Extreme Nutrition did a great job creating Boost pre workout. It is something that I would highly suggest trying regardless of what type of training you like to do. The endurance benefits alone are enough for me to pick up a second tub.
